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'Splash Brothers' slipping through Nuggets' grasp

Denver must contain Curry, Thompson in Game 3

By Benjamin HochmanThe Denver Post

Posted:
04/25/2013 11:13:59 PM MDT

Updated:
04/25/2013 11:14:04 PM MDT

OAKLAND, Calif. -- With forearms the size of a peninsula and mullets flapping behind them like capes, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire once were superheroes in the Bay Area, where their prodigious ("roid-digious?") home runs for the Oakland A's earned them the nickname "Bash Brothers."

Bay Area fans hadn't seen anything like it.

And now, they haven't seen anything like what is happening with their basketball team, which features a pair of prodigious shooters who can take over a game and alter a playoff series. Quickly. Those fans are calling the Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson the "Splash Brothers."

Heading into today's Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Warriors in Oakland, Calif., the Nuggets know they must contain Curry and Thompson, at least one of them. The series is tied 1-1.

Tuesday night in Game 2, which Golden State won131-117 at the Pepsi Center, Curry shot 13-of-23 (30 points) and Thompson shot 8-of-11 (21 points). They combined for nine 3-pointers.

"They did a lot of things to loosen up our defense," said coach George Karl, whose Nuggets struggled defending the pick-and-roll play. "The first game, we got into (Curry) and bothered him a lot more than in Game 2. Then once he started making shots, he got cocky, confident. He got his swag and shake, and when you don't get a hand in his face, he's a (heck) of a shooter. Even when you do get a hand in his face, he's a (heck) of a shooter.

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The Nuggets had a productive practice Thursday in Denver, according to Karl. "The defense was great today. I think we were all embarrassed," Karl said.

One key for the Nuggets will be utilizing forward Wilson Chandler more in defending the pick-and-roll play. Karl has hinted he might start Chandler at center. But a lot of the Warriors' success in Game 2 came from utilizing a small lineup, creating space with footwork and dialing into the aforementioned swag.

"Denver must pay attention to detail," said former San Antonio Spurs defensive star Bruce Bowen, now an NBA analyst for ESPN. "Denver didn't respect them in Game 2 because of (injured All-Star forward) David Lee not playing. This is what happens when you don't respect a team. Denver shot 50 percent for the game, but Golden State shot 64.6. You have to be vested in the process. Those types of numbers say to me that they were not vested in the process of allowing their hunger and grit to take precedence over what they were doing.

"Their head was in another place, so now you have a scenario where now it's a series. And if you don't win these next two games, or one of them, the series isn't back to you. As they say Houston, we have a problem."

The "Splash Brothers" are sons of former NBA players, Dell Curry and Mychal Thompson. Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who has been around the league as a player, broadcaster or coach since 1987, proclaimed his duo "the greatest shooting backcourt of all time."

Curry set an NBA record this season with 272 made 3-pointers and became the second player ever to make at least 200 3-pointers on at least 45 percent shooting. (Glen Rice was the first). Thompson made 211, three 3-pointers shy from second-most in the NBA.

While Golden State has been expert at setting screens to get the "Splash Brothers" open, they also are adept at creating their shots, then making those shots at a high clip. Thompson is 18-for-30 in this playoff series. In Game 2, Curry was 12-of-19 on shots at least 15 feet from the basket, 8-of-9 on midrange jumpers. Both have terrific footwork and a sturdy handle.

"Curry can shoot it and stretch the floor. Thompson is right behind him," said Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried. "Three-pointers, it's just amazing to watch that. But we don't want to watch that anymore, we want to shut that down. But it's a hard task. We'll have a better game plan going into Game 3."

It wasn't as though one particular Nugget was getting torched Tuesday night. Players from Ty Lawson to Andre Iguodala to Faried were ankle-locked.

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